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Awareness day highlights AIDS epidemic among Blacks
Free HIV/AIDS testing offered throughout Hub City area

By Cheryl Scott
Bulletin Staff Writer

Blacks are only 13 percent of the population nationwide, but they account for more than 49 percent of AIDS cases, which is now the leading cause of death for Black women between the ages of 25 and 34. It is the second-leading cause of death for Black men from 35 to 44.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a working group of national organizations direct, plan, and organize National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day every Feb. 7 in an effort to encourage sexually active men and women to get tested for the disease.

“The HIV/AIDS epidemic in African-American communities is a continuing public health crisis for the United States,” said Nwadiogbu Collins, spokesman for the Oasis III Clinic, 1748 E. 118th St. in Los Angeles. “The national awareness day program attacks the problem across the country and does a great job raising awareness about the problem.

“On a local level, Oasis III has joined in the effort with a public service announcement that will run the entire month of February,” he continued. “We are not holding a special testing event, but we offer free testing every day, including the newer rapid HIV test that gives results in 20 minutes.”

The most recent CDC statistics are staggering.

At the end of 2006 there were an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV infection, of which almost half (46 percent) were African American. While Blacks represent approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population, they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of the disease — from infection with HIV to death with AIDS — compared to members of other races and ethnicities.

In 2007 Blacks accounted for 49 percent of the estimated 35,962 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The rates of AIDS diagnoses decreased among Blacks that year, but were still higher than the rates of any other race or ethnicity. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for Black adults and adolescents were 10 times the rate for whites and nearly three times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for Black women was 22 times the rate for white women, and for Black men, almost eight times the rate for white men.

For Black women living with HIV/AIDS, the most common methods of transmission were high-risk heterosexual contact and injection drug use. For Black men, the most common methods of HIV transmission were sexual contact with other men, injection drug use and high-risk heterosexual contact.

By the end of 2007, 40 percent of new AIDS cases were among Blacks.

“Like other communities, African Americans face a number of risk factors that contribute to the high rates of HIV infection,” said UCLA professor Dr. Chandra L. Ford in a paper published in 2008. “Sexual risk factors include high-risk sexual contact such as unprotected sex with multiple partners or unprotected sex with persons known to have or be at a high risk for HIV infection. People may be unaware of their partner’s sexual risk factors or have incorrectly assessed these risks.”

Injection drug use may add to the higher rates of infection for African Americans, according to the CDC Web site. In addition to being at risk from sharing unclean needles, casual and chronic illegal substance users may be more likely to engage in unprotected sex under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol.

The county said this year it will not be sponsoring any special events as it did last year, with a couple of human billboards and a special church service marking the 2009 observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This year, the observance happens to fall on Superbowl Sunday.

“We are not doing anything out of the ordinary on Feb. 7,” said True Pawluk, director of communications for the county of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Office of AIDS Programs and Policy. “Our effort is day-in, day-out availability of free testing, not only for AIDS and the HIV virus, but for other sexually transmitted diseases as well.

“The importance of testing cannot be overstated. By reducing high-risk sexual activity we can also reduce positive diagnoses. For that reason, we support all organizations that are offering free testing on Feb. 7. We encourage these organizations to get in touch with us at 213-351-8001. We are especially looking for organizations serving young Latino men and women of color.”

Free testing is available at the following sites and clinics here in Compton and nearby:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Multiservice Ambulatory Care Center

12021 S. Wilmington Ave.
Los Angeles
310-668-4231

• Oasis III Clinic
Primary HIV
medical care.
3209 N. Alameda St.,
Suite K
Compton
310-761-8444

• Oasis Clinic HIV
Counseling Testing
and Referral
1748 E. 118 St., Bldg. M
Los Angeles
323-563-5812

• South Bay Family Healthcare Center
742 W. Gardena Blvd.
Gardena
310-327-1357

• South Bay Family HL.A. County Department
of Health Services
1522 E. 102nd St.
Los Angeles
323-563-4112.

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